


Amaranthine

by dame_de_la_chance



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff, Anyway Jeremie just wants to find some love and avoid death in general, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Blood, but it turned kind of angsty, he wants to tap someone, slight gore, this was supposed to be light-hearted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-06 21:31:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12826506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dame_de_la_chance/pseuds/dame_de_la_chance
Summary: Jeremie Belpois knew life was full of surprises, but falling in love with his best friend? Cliché. Sounds like a bad romance novel.But after fatal XANA attacks, he realised that he needs to confess before he runs out of time. To do that, he needs Yumi Ishiyama’s help and a confidence boost.





	Amaranthine

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to mentally slap himself. He could hear Yumi on the other end practically dying of laughter about his mistake. 

“I thought you wanted to be subtle, Jeremie,” she cackled as his cheeks burned as bright as fire.

 

He was extremely screwed. After the last XANA attack, Jeremy finally decided that enough was enough. It was too close of a call, too many brushes with death on both sides. He couldn’t live knowing that he had failed to confess to the love of his life before they died, or before he died.

He was going to confess. He had to.  
The only problem with his resolve (there’s multiple problems, actually,, but this was the main one) is that he had no idea how to execute that idea. 

There was only one person he could go  
to. Aelita wasn’t exactly an expert on love. Ulrich couldn’t even confess to his own lover and would always become extremely awkward whenever the idea of love was brought up. Odd was... not ideal. So, that left Yumi. 

Thankfully, Yumi was actually a great advice giver. While she never followed her own advice, especially in the area of love (i.e. Ulrich) she did have great insight. And Jeremie really needed that.

“Hey Jer,” she greeted as soon as she opened the door. She didn’t even look surprised as her gaze swept over the nervous wreck before her. It was late, and he needed to get back before curfew soon. He wasn’t able to skip dinner (Odd and Ulrich wouldn’t allow that; he did it too often and was dragged with them) so he had to sneak away from the duo afterwords. “What do you need?”

“I need help,” he admitted, albeit painfully so. This was going to be embarrassing.

She frowned. “With what?”

“Well, um.” He scuffed his shoe on the ground, feeling the red blush rush over his cheeks. “There’s this person I really like. I want to confess and ask them out. What should I do?”

A grin stretched on her face. “Aw, you finally decided that science just wasn’t the one?”

“Yumi...”

“Okay, okay.” She gave him a soft smile. 

“Who is it?”

His blush increased in ferocity. “I’d really rather not say.” Admitting it to someone would be even more painful than the realization he had a few months ago that the ‘squish’ he had was actually a ‘crush’.

“Do I know them?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm.” She crosses her arms before glancing around. “Alright. Well. I guess the first question is, how well do you know them?”

He frowned. How well did he know them? Video games, art, skateboarding, and dogs were things he liked, but anyone could know that. “I’ve been friends with them for a while... but I guess not as well as I should...”

She looked confused, eyebrows tasing as she stared at him. “Wait. Why don’t you?”  
He avoided them like the plague, for a start. Which was extremely hard because they dormed near each other, at every meal together, had the same friends, hung out together, and the fact that he was Odd and they saved the world together every day. “Well, um... I um... try to avoid them.”

She gave him an exasperated look. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want them to know that I like them and I’ll blush and stutter and reveal my feelings if they speak because they’re really flirty so I have to avoid conversation at all costs!”

She laughed. She had the audacity to laugh. Admittedly, it was rather pathetic, but still. His pride was slowly shatter the longer the conversation went on. “Don’t laugh! I just want help, not mockery!”

“Okay, okay.” She rubbed her head, a devilish smirk on her face as she looked him in the eye. “I guess, the best thing is to get to know more about them. Find out what they like and dislike. Then you can go on from there.”

Jeremie nodded. It made sense. Okay. “Thanks Yumi.”

 

Jeremie watched as the fellow blond jumped once again, turning a full 360 before falling back to the ground with a soft thud. The wheels churned as he climbed the ramp and flew once more, and Jeremie’ eyes followed every move.

Odd had invited them to go skateboarding since a new skatepark had been built. Yumi and Ulrich, however, had declined, saying they were going to the movies together, and that Aelita was going with them (the gleam in Yumi’s eye made him wonder if this was actually true, if they had really planned on watching movies earlier, if she figured it out). So, Jeremie decided to go and take the Japanese girl’s advise. Get to know him better.

The blond suddenly skidded to a stop, landing gracefully on the bottom of the ramp. He kicked his board up, flipping it into his hands with practiced ease.

“Well Einstein, this isn’t much fun if no one else is doing lame tricks while I do awesome ones.” Odd wiped his forehead, sweat dripping from the intense heat of the summer. Surprisingly, the courts were fairly empty save a few other students lingering on the other side. This meant that the two boys were all alone. Jeremie gulped.

“Sorry,” Jeremie choked out. “But I have a hard enough time on the scooter.”  
Odd laughed. “Figures! Do you want to learn? I’m sure I can teach you something.”

“N-no.” Jeremie stared at the book he was ‘reading’. “I’ll have to pass.”

“Well,” Odd glanced around. “I’d be a shame to pass up such empty ramps. I think I’ll take a few more runs and then we can head back.”

“Sounds great.”

“Cool.” Odd wiped his head again, and did something Jeremie did not anticipate. He slipped his purple shirt off of his back, setting it down next to him, and then slipped off the other shirt underneath. Jeremie felt his breath hitch as the used-to-be-purple-clad boy stood up and stretched.

He buried his face in his book, trying hard to smother the heavy blush on his cheeks. Blood rushed to his head as his eyes groomed over each detail of the exposed skin. Odd’s muscles rippled as he bent down to touch his toes to stretch, his lower half perfectly visible for Jeremie’s ogling gaze. His face heated up so quickly he felt as if he had been set on fire; there was so much to look at.

“It’s really hot in here,” Odd stated absently as he stood back up. Jeremie swallowed.

Hell yeah it is, Jeremie almost muttered. “I’m uh, I’m really thirsty,” Jeremie explained, wincing at the choice of words. In more ways than one. “I’m going to go get a drink.”

He left, needing to cool down. This was not in the plan. This was not what he wanted (yes it was).

A few minutes later from panicking at the water fountain, Jeremie sat back down on the bench. He watched the boy as his muscles flexed and he flew into the air, graceful like the cat he was. He was ogling, and damn it, he didn’t care. The exposed skin made the summer’s heat long forgotten as he watched with wide eyes.

The book was long forgotten now. This was much better than any romance story. 

“Like the view?” a voice chided. Jeremie froze as Odd glanced at him, a smirk on his face as he rolled to a stop.

“Yeah, the sunset is rather pretty,” Jeremie stuttered, trying as hard as he could to remain in control.

Odd laughed, before striking a ridiculous pose, flexing his arm muscles. “Not as pretty as me.”

Damn right. “Whatever. Are you done?”

“Yeah. I guess we can head back.”

 

Jeremie was going to kiss Yumi. This plan was the best! A few weeks after hanging out at the skate park, and they had hung out multiple times. Walks with Kiwi, video game competitions, even watching a movie together. Without! Any! One! Else!

Jeremie had actually learned quite a bit about the fellow blond, and, not to sound like the romance novel he had attempted to read that was eventually abandoned, but he he fell in love a bit more with each new tidbit. His heart fluttered softly at the thought.

His main concern had been, for quite sometime, if Odd liked boys or not. He’d hear rumors of his ‘questionable sexuality’ (the term made him laugh, and he wasn’t sure why) but nothing was confirmed. However, spending time with him showed just how open the blond was about his sexuality. He had even watched him flirt with a male movie worker when they were buying tickets, then after being shot down, moved in on the girl at the snack counter.

“So,” he started. He was back at Yumi’s house, just like all those weeks ago. The raven haired girl had a confident smirk on her face, leaning on the doorway as she waited. “I... I think I want to ask them out.”

“Then do it.”

“But... uh. I don’t know how.”

Yumi smiled. “It’s really easy. Just confess, and ask them out to the movies or something.”

“But... I...” The idea of confessing was still... scary. He had promised himself he would the day he first confronted Yumi, but... Procrastinating as long as he could still felt like the better option.

Yumi hummed, wheels turning. “How about I talk you through it?”

Jeremie hesitated. “You mean like on those tv shows where the guy and the girl are trying to hook up so the friend is talking to the guy on the intercoms and trying to give them advice on what to say during the date?”

“Um. Yeah, that’s actually what I meant.”

Going alone or having help. Those episodes never did seem to end well, but... “I guess.”

“Great. Just ask Odd to meet up with you at a certain time, and then call me before then so we can do a bit of planning and then you can confess to him.”

Jeremie nodded. “Okay. Yeah.” Wait. “How did you-“

“Know?” Yumi cackled loudly, and Jeremie’s cheeks flushed. “You’ve been following him around like a lost puppy ever since I gave you some advice.”  
Jeremie groaned. “Does anybody else know?”

“Aelita and Ulrich do.”

“Why’d you tell them!?”

“They actually figured it out. If anything, it might help. Ulrich’s the one who’s been suggesting to Odd that he should hang out with you.”

Jeremie closed his mouth. Ulrich and Odd are roommates. How much does Ulrich know? Would Odd tell him if he had a crush on him?

“No. Ulrich doesn’t know if he does.”

Shit. He said that out loud. “Oh,” was all he could breathe out. Yumi patted his shoulder.

“Anyway. Just tell me when you’re going to confess and I’ll help.”

“I-Okay. Tomorrow. I’ll call.”

“Great!”

 

“So, uh.” Shit. Jeremie felt his palms become sweaty, a sure sign of fear. And God was he terrified. 

Odd glanced at him from across the table, his eyes darting to meet his eyes. He was paralysed as they met, those chatoyant eyes soaking in him being a nervous wreck.

Now that he thought about it, it was strange. Odd’s pupils were rather slit. Like a cat’s. Jeremie knew that some traits from Lyoko seeped into the real life. Genetics were sometimes slightly altered in the transfers, and he had yet to figure out why. Yumi gained exceptional throwing aim and balance, while Ulrich gained quicker reflexes and speed. Odd gained those slit pupils and a heightened sense of smell. 

He never thought about how cat like the boy actually was. Huh.

“Um. Did you want something?”

Shit. He literally got lost in his eyes. That’s so cliche, even for him. “R-right. I um. I want to talk to you.”

“Shoot.”

“Actually, somewhere else. It might take some time.”

Odd’s eyes darted about the library, their hushed whispering slicing the air. He was making sure they wouldn’t get caught chatting in their work period. “Okay?”

“Meet me at the courtyard at um... four?”

“Yeah. Sure.” He tapped his fingers on the table, shooting him a concerned look. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just. Uh. Need to talk. In private.”  
He sounded extremely suspicious, even to himself. He cursed his socially awkward conversation skills. 

Odd stared at him. “Okay...”

 

Four came way too quickly, and Jeremie sat on the bench, silently having a panic attack. He had brought his comms and Yumi was sitting in the distance somewhere, watching him as he sat on the bench. breathing on the other end, and assuring him that he wasn’t alone. 

“Don’t worry,” Yumi chided. “The worst thing he can do is reject you.”

“Exactly!” Jeremie stated. He was practically hyperventilating. “That’s what I want to avoid! At all costs!”

“Understandable.” 

“Yumi, maybe I should-“ He stopped as a pair of familiar teenagers came into his view. Ulrich and Odd were walking together, Ulrich complaining about something while Odd offered commentary. Jeremie gulped loud enough for Yumi to snicker about.

“Come on Casanova, you got to be more confident.”

“Here he comes...,” Jeremie whispered. He was extremely screwed.

Odd’s eyes suddenly drifted over to him, brightening slightly as they did. He whispered something to the brunet before bouncing over to the blond much too quickly. Ulrich shot him a thumbs up before walking away, and Aelita met up with him soon after, walking away and leaving Jeremie alone with his crush.

“Hey Einstein!” Odd greeted cheerfully, plopping down next to him. His arm instinctively placed instead on Jeremie’s shoulders, and the space between them quickly dissipated. 

“H-hey,” he coughed out.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”  
Jeremie’s panic quickly resurfaced as his mind went blank.

“Tell him ‘I love you’,” Yumi prompted. Jeremie’s eyes darted, trying to avoid those beautiful eyes (he started to scream internally as he realised what he had just monologued. This was not a cheesy romance novel. He refused to become that low) because he knew he would melt (too late Jeremie, too late).

“Um, well, um, how’s the weather?”

He regretted being born.

Odd cocked a confused eyebrow, his head tilted like a puppy. It was kind of adorable. “It’s pretty chilly I guess. But I like it really hot.”

“Like you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to mentally slap himself. He could hear Yumi on the other end practically dying of laughter about his mistake. 

“I thought you wanted to be subtle, Jeremie,” she cackled as his cheeks burned as bright as fire.

Please just let him die.

Odd’s eyes widened and his cheeks coloured a soft pink that matched his lips. “W-what?”

He’ll use the surprise to his advantage.  
“I said it’s hot.”

That was not remotely true. Gusts billowed around them, chilling the newly turned autumn air. In fact, Odd was even wearing a jacket. 

“I- um.” Odd coughed, struggling. 

Yumi was till laughing in his ear. “Nice save, Casanova.”

“What did you want to talk about? Not the weather, was it?” Odd finally choked out, trying to look calm as his cheeks were still flushed.

“Well... I’m.” Jeremie felt his heart leap. No. It wasn’t leaping. It was jumping. Off a building. So he could just die and get this over with. “Um.”

Odd was staring at him now, concern etched on his face. Jeremie could feel his breathing quicken to disastrous rates as he tried to calm down.

“Just tell him,” Yumi ordered. “Just say ‘I love you and I’d like to go on a date with you.’”

Jeremie wrung his hands. It was the only option. “Odd, I lo-“

A beeping interrupted him, and he was silently grateful. Swivelling around to hide his cherry cheeks, he swiftly pulled out his computer. Opening the lid, he glanced at the coding before giving a fake groan.  
“XANA attack.”

“What were you-“

“Let’s go,” Jeremie interrupted, slamming the computer shut and jerking up to his feet. Odd hesitated, watching him with those bright chatoyant eyes, before standing up next to him.

“Alright.”

 

The group met quickly at the factory, and Jeremie sat in the chair. His fingers clicked across the keys as he started up the virtualization system. “Scanner: Aelita. Scanner: Yumi. Scanner: Ulrich. Virtualisation.”

He watched as the avatars appeared on screen. He glanced back down at the keyboard as he said, “Okay Odd, step in”

“Sure thing!”

“Scanner: Odd. Virtualisation.” His icon flashed on screen, and Jeremie cracked his fingers as he glanced about the monitor. “Okay guys. The tower is due west. I’ll send the vehicles.”

“Alright.” It was Yumi who responded. 

A few seconds later, and he leaned back, watching as the icons blink across the screen, moving slowly. He wondered what the attack could possibly be. It seemed like forever since they all were at the factory before they new what the attack was.

“Hey Jeremie,” a voice called, startling the blond. It was Odd. He froze. “What did you want to talk about?”

He heard Ulrich snigger in the background. “Well, can this wait? I-“

“Hey Odd!” A voice called. Yumi. “Race you to the tower.”

Never had Jeremie been so grateful for Odd’s poor attention span. “Hold on princess, Yumi is about to eat my dust!”

“Odd! Wait!”

 

Jeremie’s solitude was about to be, unfortunately, cut rather short. 

“Aelita! There’s a wasp to your left!” Yumi.

“Aelita! Watch out!” Ulrich.

“Aelita!” It was Odd.

“Odd!” Aelita.

Jeremie stared at the screen, watching as Odd’s icon dove over the plateau. The mountain sections floating islands were obstacles of their own, and Jeremie never hated them more than now. Odd was falling into the digital sea.

“Jeremie!” Yumi screamed. “Odd pushed Aelita out of the way! The wasp shot him off the mountain! You have to divirtualize him! I can’t get a shot!”

“Right!” His fingers sailed over the keys, the clicking echoing in the silent room. He could do this. He had enough time. Code lined the screen as he typed in a frenzy, fearful as his fingers seemed to move too slowly.

“Jeremie,” It was Odd. It was so soft, the blond almost missed it as his heavy breathing filled his ears.

He didn’t say anything else. 

Jeremie slammed the keys as he finished the final stroke. He watched as Odd’s card slowly turned to grey, hoping he had been fast enough. He stared at the screen, waiting for the sign to pop up that it was permanent deletion.

“Odd?” He whispered, hoping the small boy would hear him in the scanner room.

“I’m... Okay,” Odd called back, his voice shaking. “It was really close. My tail touched the water. It went, like, inside the water. I’m a little winded.”

“Do you need help?”

There was a pause. “No. Just wait a minute.”

That meant yes. Jeremie glanced at the screen, checking to make sure that there were no surprise monsters lurking. 

Satisfied, he took a deep breath. “Odd is safe, but it was a close call. I’m going to go check on him. I’ll be right back.”

It reminded him of that one time in Sector 5 where Odd was crushed by the pillar. He wasn’t sure why his mind wandered there as he stood in the elevator, remembering how he had dragged the scrawny boy with surprising ease after he proved to be in too much pain to move on his own, nearly passing out. If Jeremie had wanted to, he was certain he could have picked him up because of how light he was.

The doors opened, and he found Odd on the ground, gasping loudly. He rushed over, kneeling next to him as panic surged through his body. 

Odd glanced up, his chatoyant eyes wide, his pupils blown. If he remembered correctly from cat sitting his cousin’s pet, that usually meant a cat was in extreme pain or extreme delight. He was going to go with the first one.

“What’s the problem?” He asked immediately. There wasn’t any physical damage as far as he could see.

Odd shook his head. “I’m fine.” He started to stand up, gripping the scanner for balance and Jeremie watched as his legs shook. He gave him an unamused and unconvinced stare.

“Odd.” 

He took another shaky breath, eyes darting about as he hesitated. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m on fire. I think it’s because my tail went in the digital sea.” He blinked rapidly and slowly slid back to the ground as his knees buckled. 

Jeremie paled. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure what happened.

Odd shook his head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I don’t actually have a tail in real life, so, I think I’ll be fine.” 

Jeremie let out a soft sigh. “I don’t know Odd. We’ll have to run a few tests.”

Odd shrugged. “That’s okay. At least I’m alive.”

That sentence chilled him to the core. Mortality was something he tried to avoid thinking of, usually when it came to the others, but with these recent XANA attacks, they were... making it harder to deflect. Especially since so many seemed to nearly kill Odd.

 

_“XANA has poisoned the local water supply!” Jeremie gasped, grateful he had decided to grab a water bottle and not tap. Yumi and Ulrich exchanged uneasy glances, and Odd looked sick._

_“That’s not good,” Odd stated._

_“What? Why?”_

_“I just drank a lot of tap water.”_

_And with that, Odd tumbled over his feet, suddenly collapsing onto the ground as they ran toward the forest. When Jeremie turned back for him, rolling his limp body over and pressing his hand on his neck, he couldn’t feel a pulse._

 

_“It’s not that bad,” Odd stated. He had been divirtualized a few minutes ago, and had been entrusted with guarding Jeremie as he guided the others to the tower._

_Possessing the security guard for the new exhibit near the school was XANA’s aim, and Jeremie wanted to scream as he saw what Odd was referring to. He had been shot. Twice. One in the leg, one in the liver._

_“Shit,” was all Jeremie could mutter as he pulled Odd’s head close to his chest, watching as Odd struggles to stay conscious, watching as blood loss seemed to be inevitable no matter how hard he tried to pressurise the injury._

 

_Water levels had risen in the sewers. A current had been generated by XANA’s shifting of the dam water, the waves lapping at the top of the ladder as time seemed to go still on the bridge._

_Jeremie’s hair was plastered to his face, searching for and sign of life in Odd’s body. He had been swept under the current, trying to fight a spectre that had possessed Hervé. It nearly drowned him, but Jeremie had dived in and lugged the boy to the surface. He had been under for too long. He wasn’t conscious._

_The water was extremely cold, and Odd’s skin was frigid. His lips were blue. Jeremie clambered on top of him, pinching the boy’s nose and doing chest compressions on his lungs. As he leaned his head to Odd’s lips, the boy’s eyes fluttered open, and he leaned back, watching as the boy painfully coughed up water._

 

_Jeremie screamed. He was too late. Too late. Too late.  
A return to the past wouldn’t fix this._

_He scrambled over to the blood splattered spot on the road, over to the prone body laying on the ground. Odd was staring at the sky, his head scratched up and his chest bruised black and blue and green and scrapes snaking up on every inch of his skin._

_XANA had taken control of a semi truck and just hit Odd. Shit._

_He tried to avoid the blood as he put his hand on the boy’s neck. A pulse was there. Barely. So faint Jeremie wasn’t even sure it was real._

_A white light washed over the two. Aelita must have set the return to the past this time._

_There was so much blood._

 

“Jeremie, are you okay?” Odd’s voice snapped his attention back to reality. Jeremie glanced at him, his shaking limbs, his soft smile, his concerned eyes.

“Yeah,” he whispered, trying to gather up his nerves. He needed to confess. He needed to confess. Instead, he gave a soft sigh. “I need to get back up to the computer. Can you walk?”

“Sure.” Odd shakily stood up once more, his body clattering as he pulled himself up with the scanner. Jeremie was not impressed.

“So no.” Before the smaller boy could protest, Jeremie picked him up. Once again, he was amazed at how light this boy was. It was even stranger after seeing him gorge upon nearly three servings of lunch.

Odd opened his mouth, his cheeks flushed, but let out a soft sigh. He closed his eyes and leaned on Jeremie’s shoulder, resting his head against him. He was still shaking like Jello, but Jeremie wasn’t sure what to do now. 

He carried the small boy into the elevator, watching as the doors slid close and the feeling of moving wash over him. “Stay awake Odd. We don’t have enough information about the digital sea. You might not wake up.”

“I’m really tired, Jeremie.”

“Just keep talking.”

Odd buried himself in the crook of his neck, and he could feel his hot breath in his skin. His skin felt cold. “I’m freezing.”

“Good. As long as you can feel, you’re okay.”

“I guess.”

The doors opened, and Jeremie stepped into the room. He leaned Odd against the computer next to him. He shook against the machine, trying to huddle into himself.

Jeremie pulled the headphones on, glancing at the boy with concern. “I’m back. How is everything?”

“Going surprisingly well. A few more monsters and we are in,” Aelita cheerfully reported. She was right. A crab and a few stray wasps stood in the way.

“Have you figured out what the attack is?” Yumi called.

Jeremie frowned as he pulled up a tab. A quick search and he glanced through the breaking news. “He’s taken control of the electrical plant. The factory is on reserve power. I don’t think we’ll need a return to the past, but that may change.” He glanced at Odd again. Would a return to the past help him? He didn’t think it would. If someone fell into the digital sea then they wouldn’t come back in the real world even with a return to the past. Odd probably wouldn’t heal.

“How’s Odd?” Ulrich’s voice was soft, uneasy. “It looked like he touched the sea.”

Jeremie hesitated briefly. “He did. His tail went in. He seems to be in a lot of pain, but is alive.”

“We can go into Sector 5 later to see if we can do anything about that,” Aelita offered. Two wasps disappeared from the screen. Almost there.

“Okay,” Jeremie answered. “Finish off the Krab and you’ll be clear. Nothing else in sight.”

“Are they winning?” Odd piped up. 

“Yeah. They’re almost there.” 

“Good. I’m ready for a cat-nap.”

Jeremie rolled his eyes as he went back to focusing on the monitor. Aelita entered the tower, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Ulrich and Yumi stood outside, and Aelita’s voice rang clear. “Tower deactivated, Jeremie.”

“Should I do a return to the past?”

“Will it help Odd?” Yumi asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“Was there damage in the real world?”

Jeremie searched through a few articles, sifting through the information. “Yeah. When XANA possessed the electric company, it was too much and started a fire. Several workers were injured but none dead. The fire is still going on.”

“A return to the past it is.”

Jeremie nodded even though they couldn’t see him. He perched his fingers on the keyboard, eyes darting to the source of heavy breathing, before entering the code. “Return to the past now.”

 

Jeremie sat on the bench, static ringing in his ears. It was four o’clock. He should have went farther back so he had more time to panic. 

How could fighting a deranged virus bent on world domination be easier than saying three measly words?

“Don’t worry,” Yumi chided. “It’ll work out. A second chance. Just don’t ask about the weather again.”

Jeremie made a face at that. “Okay, that was definitely not the high light of my career, but it wasn’t that bad.”

“You literally started a conversation with ‘How about the weather?’”

Jeremie groaned. “My God, it was that bad.”

“Just breathe. Is he here?”

Jeremie glanced around, his eyes searching. Shit. His blue eyes landed on two figures, one still shaking and the other sending him worried glances. He tried to shrink himself, scooting out of view and hoping to hear the conversation.

“Odd, are you sure you should even be out here? Did the return trip even help?”

“Well, I don’t hurt as bad.”

“But you’re still in pain?”

“A little. It’s more mild discomfort.”

“You don’t have to. Jeremie will understand.”

“Yeah but...” there was a pause as Odd whispered something Jeremie couldn’t make out. He watched as Ulrich’s eyes darted about, a soft flush on Odd’s cheeks. Ulrich scuffed his foot on the ground, slowly putting his hand on Odd’s shoulder.

“I see. Well, just be careful. Tell Jeremie if it worsens, and if you pass out, here’s an ‘I told you’ so in advance.” Ulrich glanced over to the empty bench, and Jeremie hoped no one knew he was behind the bush. “Did he chicken out? Did we walk here for nothing?”

Odd shrugged. “Give him a few minutes before yelling at him. The last attempt was...”

“A complete failure.” 

Jeremie was slightly insulted. Ulrich wasn’t wrong, but that still stung. He’ll show him.

Jereme strutted over to the bench, plopping down without a care in the world (a total lie). He pretended not to notice the duo a few feet away, messing with his bag as he waited. There was the crunching of leaves as someone neared, and his heart fluttered once again.

He glanced up to see Odd smiling as he walked over, still shaking slightly. Ulrich was standing off to the side, giving him a thumbs up while his eyes said ‘Be careful.’  
Jeremie gulped as Odd sat down next to him, wincing slightly as the blond hit the wood too hard. He shifted his chatoyant eyes to the fellow blond, and the pressure of confession made him feel as if he was Atlas, holding up the sky. 

“So Jeremie,” the boy started. “What’s up?”

“Confess,” Yumi urged. “You got this.”

“Um.” Jeremie glanced around, thankful and terrified now that Ulrich had left and they were all alone. He had imagined confessing multiple times, wrote scripts in his head for this moment. Eloquently written with deep meaning. He had rehearsed it with practice.

“I- I love you a lot! I’ve loved you since we met! I’ve loved you and your stupidly pretty face and your stupid gaudy clothes and your stupid strange hair and all around strangeness! I even love your stupid dog! You’re a really nice guy, like when you helped Milly and her stuffed bear, and I really like that! And you’re really talented! And hot!”

He blurted all of that out without thinking, his cheeks becoming a shade of deep, like rubies. He clamped a hand over his mouth as he realized what he had said, and embarrassment flooded him like a tsunami.  
Oh, he is in some deep shit. He called him ‘pretty’ and ‘stupid’ and ‘hot’ all in one go.

Yumi was silent on the other end. He couldn’t even hear her breath.

Odd looked frozen, a deer caught in the headlights. His eyes were wide and his chatoyant pupils slitted to extreme thinness, his irises practically absorbing those black orbs. His cheeks were a bright rose pink, and he looked immensely startled.

“Y-you... love me?” Odd whispered. Why was he so surprised? Did Jeremie seem like the type unable to love? Did he mess up really badly?

Jeremie’s cerulean eyes darted about, uncertain as to where to focus on. He settled on Odd’s eyes, gaining a sudden burst of confidence he wasn’t sure why he had.

“Yes. I love you, Odd Della Robbia.”

“You go, Jeremie,” Yumi whispered, excitement in her voice. “You did it.”

Odd remained silent for a moment, staring at his lap, completely still. Jeremie had never seen him so collected, so... motionless, with the exception of the times he was practically dead. It did nothing to boast confidence in his decision.

“That was... not what I expected,” Odd finally muttered, his eyes looking up at the blond. Jeremie stuttered.

“W-what did you expect?”

“I thought you were going to kick me out of the group,” Odd admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous tick Jeremie had learned about. “You avoided me for a really long time and then you suddenly seemed interested in me. I thought maybe you were like, evaluating my usefulness and you always looked extremely unhappy. And with all these close calls I’ve been pulling, I thought maybe you didn’t want me around because I’m... not useful.”

Jeremie’s eyes widened. “No! No! Not at all! I don’t want you to leave! You’re extremely important! You just saved Aelita from falling into the digital sea!”

Odd’s blush increased slightly. “I’m glad that I’m wrong.”

Jeremie nodded, kicking his feet as his hopes soared against his better judgement. “So...”

“I love you.”

Jeremie was caught off guard. Odd’s blush was now creeping toward his ears, and the deep color revealed freckles that dotted his nose. “I love you a lot. I had a crush on you ever since you went into the scanners to get us out of that parallel universe thing. It was really brave.” Odd kicked the ground, his eyes trained on Jeremie. “I thought you were straight and in love with Aelita, so I didn’t bother trying to pursue anything.”

“Turns out, what I thought I had with Aelita was just we were just really excited to have friends.”

Odd laughed. “Ha! And I thought Ulrich’s ability to identify love was terrible.”

“Whatever,” Jeremie pouted. They locked eyes, and Jeremie slowly leaned closer. If Odd didn’t want to, he could lean away, and that was okay with him. But Odd stayed firmly planted, if not ridged, and Jeremie continued to lean in until their lips were millimeters apart.

He heard both of their breaths hitch, and noticing Odd’s eyes slowly close, he willed himself to move closer.

 

“About damn time,” Ulrich muttered, watching the scene from a few years a away, binoculars in his hand. Yumi was eating popcorn, laughing at Ulrich, while Aelita smiled.

“I’m so happy for them,” he stated.

“Finally, the sexual tension is resolved,” Yumi laughed out. Ulrich nodded.

“Like you’re one to complain. Every time Jeremie pops up at our dorm, it’s usually when Odd is undressing. Have you seen how awkward they both get? All I wanted was help with tests but I have to deal with them trying not to pounce each other.”

“Jeez,” Aelita cried. “Let’s not talk about that and just enjoy the fact that they’re finally together, yeah?”

“I can toast to that.”

“But I will fight Jeremie if he breaks Odd’s heart.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah, me three.”

“Why are you all concerned it will be me that’s the problem?”

The trio glanced up to find Jeremie peering down at them from behind the bush, Odd holding in a chuckle. 

“I think it’s sweet,” Odd said, pretending to swoon. 

Aelita laughed. “Well, now that we solved this, it’s time to move on to Yumi and Ulrich.”

Yumi and Ulrich paled.

**Author's Note:**

> They were supposed to be a crack ship but I became too invested and now...  
> Besides, there’s not enough content for this pairings in the fandom (not enough content in general but...)  
> Hope you liked! If not, sorry!  
> Also, the title means: undying, Immortal, or purple-red.


End file.
